Here are the leading air groups in order of kills up to 31 December 1941. I'm surprised to find 59th fighter sentai flying Oscar fighters is the leading group and this group also has the leading pilot with 4 kills.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

In the Malayan theatre the following bases were successfully assaulted and captured. Kuantan, Alor Star, Kuala Lumpur, Taiping, Victoria Point, Khota Bharu and Georgetown. Activity will now focus on the capture of Malacca and creating a beachhead at Mersing to put pressure on the rear of the troops likely to retreat when Malacca falls.

Burma was an easy run through the country side for my troops with the enemy beating a retreat and leaving everything undefended. Tavoy and Moulmein both fell and troops are now gathering to force the rivers and begin an assault on Rangoon. Recon presently shows about 4 to 5 small units in the area.

In the DEI Brunei, Jesselton and Kuching have fallen with troops now far from mounting as assault on Miri. Galeia and Wasile have also been taken.

In China Yenen and Hong Kong both fell. I have adopted a HR of securing all roads and rail in occupied areas of China so this has curtailed massive efforts here. Changsa has developed into a war of attrition with daily bombardment attacks on the city. An early effort was made to take Nanning but the situation here is stabilized. Canton was also threatened early on but matters here are also in hand.

In the Philippines Lingayen, Laoag, Vigan, Aparri, Tuguegarao, Batan Island, Lamon Bay, Davao, Dadjangas and San Marcelino have all fallen. Mazbate Island and Tagbalarin were occupied. The beachhead at Naga was lost but not the troops. This has not been a fast moving theatre but progress continues to be made.

In the Central Pacific Wake Island and Guam were seized.

In the South East Pacific Makin, Kavieng, Naru Island and Tarawa have fallen.

Stuff ups

The non event called the Pearl Harbour raid… sometimes supreme commanders simply can’t make their subordinates carry out instructions….. Amazingly Nagumo is still in charge of KB.

The Russian adventure was unexpected and has for the time been resolved. I did manage to unnecessarily lose 5 dive bombers in an unauthorized bombing of a Russian airfield.

The dropping of the parachute regiment on Johore Bahru was an unmitigated disaster with the regiment being mauled and around 10 transport planes also unnecessarily cut from the sky.

The Zero airfield attack on Singapore with another 10 planes being lost for little return.

The attempted landing at Mendado when my 3 AP landing force was caught out my Houston, Boise and company. Fortunately my tactic of having built in redundancy by putting troops on more ships than necessary was rewarded with 1 AP escaping and able to save the remnants of the SNLF force.

Things that worked

The blockade of the Philippines…. More than happy with the results here.

The early capture of Hong Kong and Yemen.

The early (and unplanned) capture of Wake Island without losing any ships.

The Burma campaign off to a good start.

The Malayan campaign going well although not fast…. I’ll be happy to achieve close to a historical result here.

The sub campaign off the coast of California netting a few tankers and causing general mayhem amongst the local population.

On with the fight.

And finally thanks to all for the interest. Tocaff has mentioned in his PM the interest that both AAR are generating. I'm very pleased given it is my first PBEM and first AAR and plenty of interest too. Many thanks to all the readers out there.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Air: A sweep of Mersing by 19 Oscar bags the 2 Buffalo sent up as CAP. A sweep of Singapore by 15 Zero brings down 2 of the 4 Buffalo doing CAP duties. A further sweep by another 21 Zero finds 2 Buffalo on patrol and claims 1 as destroyed.

15 Nell attack Malacca and cause 53 casualties and 2 guns lost to SSVF Brigade. 16 more Nell also target SSVF Brigade and cause a further 37 casualties and 1 gun lost.

At Rabaul Japanese troops execute a shock attack and storm the base. Rabaul falls for the loss of 140 casualties and 2 guns lost. The allied forces retreat after suffering 76 casualties and 1 gun lost.

Subs

My plan to wreak havoc on the incoming American shipping at Pearl comes to naught and another loss. This time SS I-170 is absolutely walloped with 20 hits from DMS Southard andDDs Allen, Ward, Litchfield and Schley. The message reporting her sinking came as no surprise.

SS I-4 finds a juicy convoy containing 3 AK, 2 AP, 3 TK and 1 AO, however, runs afoul of the escort containing AVD Williamson and DDs Humphreys, Brooks, Kilty, Crane, Kennison and Crosby. Without getting a shot in she is hit 5 times then avoids further attack and sneaks off to lick her wounds which stand at 15 01 00.

I had hoped for something from all the subs north of Pearl. Seems to me that 2 lost subs for 1 reported hit is way too high a price to pay.

The fall of Rabaul will allow me to base fighters and bombers out of this base in the near future. An invasion force is bound for Lae. Further forces are enroute to deal with the allied forces that retreated from Rabaul. Japanese eyes are turning toward the logistics of mounting an attack on Port Moresby.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Land: A deliberate attack on British forces north of Rangoon see the British forces break and retreat across the river. Japanese forces lose 65 casualties, 1 gun and 1 vehicle against 274 British casualties and 9 guns lost. The Japanese forces have 1 river to force and then clear the troops from the other side and they will be at the door step of Rangoon.

Air: 18 Zero on a sweep over Singapore encounter 3 Buffalo and claim 1 shot down. Later in the day another sweep by 18 Zero finds 3 more Buffalo on CAP duty and another Buffalo is shot down.

Later on in the day to the north of Kuantan 6 Swordfish sneak past the CAP of 7 Oscar and locate an incoming cargo task force. In a very effective attack 2 ships suffer torpedo hits. AK Fukoku Maru sustains damage of 18 31 19 and AK Tagonoura Maru received 23 18 16 damage. Both ships will be docked at Kuantan to clear the flooding before returning to Japan for repair. Not one of the attacking Swordfish was shot down.

Off shore from Khota Bharu 6 Blenheim escorted by 3 Buffalo manage to evade the CAP of 6 Oscar and put 1 bomb on board AP Giyu Maru causing 38 casualties and 35 04 10 damage. Giyu Maru was part of the fleet tasked to transport 4th Division to Mersing. She has to pull out and make ready for a return to Japan to repair the damage.

Land: At Malacca bombardment there causes 23 British casualties.

DEI

Land: Troops are ashore at Singhawang.

China

Land: Bombardment of Changsa results in 94 casualties and 1 gun lost for the Chinese defenders.

A bombardment attack by the Japanese at Nanning results in 15 Japanese casualties and 3 guns lost to only 3 Chinese casualties.

South of Canton bombardment results in 6 Japanese casualties and 1 gun lost against Chinese 88 casualties and 1 gun lost.

Air:AK Corregidor attempting a run out of Manila Harbour, after dodging RO-34 the day before, is located by 11 Nell and sinks after being hit by 3 torpedoes. Corregidor had previously been reported as having taken a bomb hit during the air raid on Manila Harbour. I was wondering how long it would be before she made a run for it. The placement of Nell bombers at Davao has been very effective.

South East Pacific

Land: Lae is undefended and is captured by Japanese forces.

Air: 18 Zero make their first appearance over Port Moresby. There is no CAP reported during this sweep.

South of Rabaul NGVR Battalion is bombed by 18 Nell with 48 casualties reported.

Subs

To the east of Shanghai a bunch of PGs and MLs heading south locateSS Saury and report 1 hit on the sub.

Recon reports that 2 of the 7 units at Malacca have moved south towards Singapore. The Japanese forces based at Malacca have been instructed to attack at dawn tomorrow. Shipping coming into my Malayan port still faces a serious risk of aerial bombardment. So far the CAP has usually been breaking up the attacks but today saw a couple of very useful attacks by the British bombers.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Time has come to start thinking very hard on the direction of my naval strategy. Up until now I have had pretty much a free run in being able to pick where and when to attack.

I now have something of a dilemma as to what the best course of action should be from here.

The Malayan, Burmese, Philippine and Chinese campaigns will continue in much the same vein and to a large extent won’t be affected by naval issues other than the submarine threat. It is in the Dutch East Indies and the Central/South Pacific that I have my concerns. The main concern is the growing strength of Todd’s fleets, British and American. As Captain Harlock rightly pointed out much earlier in this AAR no major warships have been sunk yet. In fact there hasn’t even been a destroyer sunk so far. Submarines have been sunk; however, they will not (apart from lucky shots) cause much worry in regard to the overall picture of what to do regarding potential fleet actions from this point on. Force Z has gone to ground and whilst the major ships from the Philippines did show up for a bit they have now gone to ground as well. After the aborted Pearl raid the anchorage was emptied but over the last few days my subs north of Pearl detected a lot of inbound traffic including carriers, battleships and stacks of cruisers.

The lack of result at Pearl Harbour and Todd’s careful husbanding of his fleets has meant that he now has a substantial force available to meet my future moves. KB is currently based at Truk and is undergoing a breather to repair some accumulated wear and tear. I have decided to keep KB together. My main dilemma revolves around the best use of KB at present. I am undecided between keeping them around Kwajalein to counter any move by Todd to snatch back an island or two and their use as an offensive tool too force an action against Todd. I’m not thinking of sending KB to the DEI and apart from Mutsu and 4 older cruisers to support them I don’t really have too much in the area to support KB.

I’d love to send KB in the direction of Pearl to see what it might run into but my plan at the moment is:

Bring some other IJN assets over from the DEI to support the KB

Leave mini KB and the majority of the IJN in DEI to cover continuing landings and possible threats from Force Z and or Houston/Boise or anything else that Todd might send in from the Pacific

Base KB in the area of Kwajalein to counter any early aggressive moves by the USN

Use KB to support the operation to take Port Moresby

What do you think of the strengths and weaknesses of this plan? I hadn’t planned on the Pearl raid being such a flop. This combined with Todd’s withdrawal of surface ships has given me something to struggle with regarding continuing to move forward and at the same time protecting what I already have. All suggestions are welcome.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Sweep over Singapore by 21 Zero is met by 3 Buffalo and all 3 are shot from the sky.

Land:The morning quiet is swept away with the sound of a barrage of gunfire directed at the troops hunkered down at Malacca. A short time later a considerable force of Japanese troops supported by tanks and led by the Imperial Guards launches a deliberate attack. Achieving odds of 7-1 the forts at level 3 are brushed aside and the town is conquered. Japanese commanders report to Lieutenant General Yamashita that loses were 2147 casualties, 78 guns lost and 1 vehicle lost. The allied forces, now in retreat, were reported to have lost 604 casualties and 10 guns.

Land: At Singkawang the base is captured and the defenders retreat. Japanese forces lose 17 casualties and 2 guns lost while 1 Martin 139 is destroyed on the ground at the airfield. Japanese losses were recorded as 36 casualties and 2 guns lost.

China

Land: The daily ritual of bombardment at Changsa causes a reported 96 casualties and 4 guns lost to the Chinese garrison.

South of Canton Japanese forces there report their bombardment attack caused 114 Chinese casualties and 2 guns lost.

The capture of Malacca has opened up the road to Singapore with only one obstacle (Johore Bahru) standing in the way. I’m expecting that the defenders here have busy preparing the forts for a last ditch defense. A couple of artillery units are on the way down the peninsula to provide support in this operation. 4th Division has just about finished loading at Khota Bharu and should soon be shipping to assault Mersing.

< Message edited by SierraJuliet -- 5/4/2009 8:00:28 AM >

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

East of Malacca 15 Nell strike the retreating 12th Indian Brigade and cause 37 casualties and 1 gun lost. 15th Indian Brigade also in the same area is bombed by 9 Nell and loses 14 casualties.

Burma

Air: Well to the west of Rangoon 10 Nell and 6 Sally target 1st Burma Brigade and cause 8 casualties.

Land: Japanese troops (2 divisions) force the river and shock attack the allied forces on the other side. Japanese forces report 350 casualties, 5 guns lost and 1 vehicle lost to allied loses of 286 casualties and 10 guns lost. The allied troops retreat into Rangoon.

DEI

Land: The 11th and 12th NLF finally finishes their trek from Brunei to Miri and launches an assault on the British forces that had retreated from Brunei a few weeks ago. The assault goes to plan with the surrender of the British and the resource and oil complex captured without any damage. Japanese forces lose 4 casualties and 1 gun and capture 889 prisoners.

Land: The Imperial Guards arrive in the hex to the north of Johore Bharu only to find the allied troops have beat a hasty retreat and now appear to be holed up at Johore Bharu. It will take a number of days to move everything into place but it would seem that the siege of Johore Bharu is about to begin.

Burma

Air: At Rangoon the Rangoon Force is attacked by 15 Nell and 19 Sally and cause 34 casualties.

Land: The two divisions spearheading the drive into Burma are ordered to move in on Rangoon.

The Japanese forces south of Canton are ordered to attack the Chinese forces there. Unfortunately the Chinese had decided that 7 January was the day to retreat from this hex so the ordered attack did not take place.

At Cotabato Japanese troops make a shock attack after fording the river outside the township. Even with the handicap of crossing the river the Japanese prove to be an irresistible force as the garrison of 7416 and 34 guns surrender. On the Japanese side 94 casualties and 2 guns lost are reported. At the end of the action 119th USN Base Force, 118th and 110th USAAF Base Forces and 101st PA Division have surrendered into a life of captivity. This was a pleasing result as I had feared how the battle would unfold after the river crossing had been completed. The majority of Mindanao is now controlled by Japanese forces.

Sea: Subs have snuck in a laid a minefield at Truk. DDs Kasumi and Shiranuhi locate the field and destroy a couple of mines.

Subs

North of Kwajalein SS S-40 locates a convoy returning to the HI and scores 1 torpedo hit on AP Montevideo Maru causing 33 38 14 damage. Flotation not too good and she has a long way to go. The captain is going to give it a go to make the HI before the flooding claims the ship.

Naval Losses for the Day

Nil

Comments

As stated above the capture of the allied troops at Cotabato was particularly pleasing and now frees up a number of offensive units for other duties.

Hi JonReb. Glad to have you on board. As for Pearl Harbour you can only imagine the myriad of feelings that zip through your mind when you realize that the vaunted KB fluffed the opening attack. Certainly has had one big repercussion..... tocaff now has a fully intact fleet and coupled with his general pull back it is difficult to make any inroads. I fear that unless I decide to try and hunt something down he will come at me somewhere with one mighty fleet.... The hunting down a quarry is something I'm not really confident about implementing though.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

With the withdrawal of Chinese forces from south of Canton I have decided to initiate action with forces based at Nanning supported by some of the Canton forces to clear and secure the rail line from Nanning to Hanoi. The division based at Hanoi will also join in the action. Whilst this is under way the forces at Changsa will continue the bombardment attacks to keep attention focused there. A division plus supporting forces have been stationed at Canton to forestall any renewed interest in this city. Once the rail lline is secure the focus will return to Changsa with attacks being made at Changsa with a view to ultimately capturing the city.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Air: At Johore Bharu 10 Sally hit 111 RAF Base Force and cause 12 casualties. A number of small raids threaten Japanese shipping off the coast of Malaya but do no damage until late in the day 6 Vildebeest pay a visit on the troop ships unloading at Mersing. They call at a good time as the CAP seems to have called it a day and they have the skies to themselves and more targets than planes.AP Gosei Maru is hit by 1 torpedo causing 36 51 22 damage. AP Miike Maru is also hit by 1 torpedo and reports 49 42 15 damage. 55 casualties are also reported on board the ships.

Land: Despite the success of the torpedo bombers troops do get ashore and establish themselves at Mersing.

Land: The troops that landed the previous day at Gasmata capture the undefended base. The unit here will assist in the eventual clear up of the allied forces fleeing from Rabaul.

Finschafen is occupied by Japanese forces.

Subs

SS 1-26 operating offshore from San Francisco is located byDD Kane and 5 other DDs and suffers 6 hits causing 53 64 00 damage. She has some serious flooding to control if she is to make it back to a friendly port.

Naval Losses for the Day

Nil

Comments

The capture of Jolo completes the first phase of immediate operations in the Borneo area. Jolo will now be used as a forward base to organize the assault upon Tarakan. Sandakan is also in the in line for an assault within the next few days. In Burma land forces are focused on moving in on Rangoon and within a few days the lead elements should be entering the town itself. In Malaya the focus is on securing Mersing which only has a small allied presence and more importantly Johore Bharu which has significant numbers of allied troops. It will take a little while for all available forces to move on Johore as quite a number are resting in Kuala Lumpur to bring down disruption and fatigue levels. In the Philippines land forces are moving towards Clark Field and within days action should commence there too.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Air: 17 Zero come up against 4 Buffalo over Singapore and shot down 1 Buffalo.

At Johore Bharu 18 Nell bomb SSVF Brigade and cause 13 casualties.

Off shore and north of Mersing a mixed flight of 3 Swordfish, 6 Vildebeest and 3 Blenheim escorted by 3 Buffalo tangle with a CAP of 7 Oscar over the surface task force covering the landing at Mersing. By the end of the action the flak supported by Oscar fighters has claimed 2 Swordfish and 1 Vildebeest destroyed. Some torpedoes, however, make it into the water and start their runs. BB Yamashiro is hit by 1 torpedo and suffers 04 00 09 damage. (Lucky result there)

Land: At Mersing 4th Division launches a deliberate attack and for the loss of 2 casualties forces the surrender of No. 109 RAF Base Force and the capture of 966 casualties and 8 guns.

Burma

Air: At Rangoon 13th Indian Brigade is bombed by 19 Nell and 14 Sally for 93 casualties.

Near Gasmata 3 Hudson run into a 6 Zero CAP and lose 1 of their number without result on the targeted warships.

Subs: SS I-19 is hit 7 times by DDs Kane and King + at least 3 other DDs operating off shore from San Francisco. I-19 becomes a total loss.

Naval Losses for the Day

SS I-19

Comments

The capture of Mersing means that all attention in Malaya will now be focused on the capture of Johore Bharu preparatory to invading Singapore. An assault on Rangoon is expected next turn. The troop movements from Canton to Nanning seem to have caused some excitement in the Chinese armies with a number of corps appearing to be on the move to provide some defense in depth against any move I might make. Another sub lost off the coast of the USA. Perhaps it is time to leave this piece of hot ocean alone for a while.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Land: The allied forces at Johore Bahru are bombarded and lose 9 casualties and 1 gun.

Burma

Land: A shock attack is launched at Rangoon. The small garrison made up of 13th Indian Brigade and Rangoon Force surrenders 8104 prisoners and 16 guns lost for the price to the Japanese of 210 casualties, 10 guns and 1 vehicle lost. None of the infrastructure is damaged with Oil at (0) 50, Resources (0) 100 and Manpower (0) 2. The base contains 54 158 supply, 90 348 fuel and 8 837 oil.

The capture of Rangoon in such good condition is far more than I expected when I started out. Todd has left only minimal forces to defend and this is in fact the first place he has actually left forces to make a stand if IRC. I will be sending one division, shortly to be reinforced by a tank regiment, to move into the interior with a view to eventually taking Mandalay. One further division will remain in Rangoon for some rest and refit for a short time before moving on to support the other division. I’m expecting that Todd has had his troops busy preparing defensive lines somewhere up ahead and the going will soon be getting tough. Still the capture of Rangoon some 2 months ahead of RL is a pleasant surprise. I’ve also had a fleeting glimpse of some Tomahawk fighters on CAP patrol when recon flights have penetrated the interior so I expect the AVG must be lurking around here somewhere as well.

Forgot to mention also last turn my first ace was confirmed. The honour went to 1 Lt R. Shibata of 59th Fighter Sentai flying a Ki-43-Ib Oscar out of Kuantan.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Air: 21 Zero take on the Singapore CAP of 1 Buffalo and bring it down. Another flight of 18 Zero finds another lone Buffalo and bring it down as well.

China

Land: At Changsa a shock attack is ordered. Japanese ground losses are reported as 5 031 casualties, 75 guns and 3 vehicles lost. Allied ground losses are reported as 1 299 casualties and 42 guns lost. The Japanese achieved assault odds of 3 to 1 and the assault reduced the fortifications to 3.

With more forces moving in on Nanning a new bombardment attack is ordered here. This time around the Japanese lose 6 casualties and 2 guns lost to the Chinese 127 casualties and 1 gun lost.

Land: Ground units are moving in on Clark Field and a bombardment attack is ordered here. Without loss to them the Japanese inflicted the following reported losses on the allied force – 98 casualties, 3 guns lost and 1 vehicle lost.

Subs:

At Wake Island an anti submarine task force, sent there from Kwajalein to deal with reports of 2 submarines in the area, locates SS S-35. PC Shonon Maru #10, PG Toyotsu Maru and DDs Kisaragi, Yayoi and Mutski combine forces and score 10 hits on S-35. The attack continues and when the target is reacquired a further 5 hits are recorded. S-35 is reported sunk a short time later.

Naval Losses for the Day

SS S-35, AK Tetsuzan Maru (sinks at Kuching a few days after being torpedoed during the Kuching invasion)

Comments

Things appear to be a little in lull, however; the land campaign at Changsa has entered a new round with inroads made in the fortifications and in the Philippines the first round in the assault on Clark Field has commenced.

_____________________________

Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Air: At Singkawang 4 Blenheim and 13 Martin 139 strikes at the surface covering force. Without causing any damage they lose 1 Blenheim.

Near Pontianak 3 Martin 139 and 6 Brewster 339D make an attempt on the invasion fleet. They are met by a 16 Zero CAP and 4 Brewster 339D are shot from the sky.

China

Land: The bombardment of Changsa causes 406 casualties and 6 guns lost from the Chinese forces.

At Nanning the newly arrived forces from the Canton sector launch a deliberate attack on the Chinese forces that have been menacing the city. For the loss of 888 casualties and 11 guns lost the Japanese forces inflict 211 casualties and 5 guns lost and cause the Chinese forces to retreat in the direction of Wuchow.

Sea: Destroyers in the invasion fleet at Gili Gili locate and start to deal with a mine field. DD Yunagi, however, sails right into a mine and suffers 42 43 13damage. The fight is on for the crew to save the ship.

Air: Near Gili Gili 3 Hudson make a run on the invasion fleet. 3 Zero on patrol brings down one Hudson and the fleet is remains unscathed.

Subs:

At Mersing a mine warfare fleet made up of 4 MSW is located by SS Truant. Truant picks out MSW Choun Maru # 6 and sends her to the bottom with 1 torpedo strike.

Naval Losses for the Day

MSW Choun Maru # 6

Comments

Mines…. Ouch. Truant continues to make her presence felt. Softening up continues on the land war fronts.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Here is the latest position in China. Nanning has been cleared but the line between Nanning and Hanoi is still infested with Chinese forces. For the time being I have elected to leave the Hanoi based division in a holding position.

The bulk of the forces used to clear Nanning are returning to the Canton area where they will join with other Canton based forces and make a move on Wuchow at the same time that proper assaults are being launched on Changsa. The goal is Changsa in the short term and if I can draw off some forces at Wuchow so much the better.

_____________________________

Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Air: 23 Zero fly a sweep over Singapore and again down the 1 Buffalo that comes up to meet them.

DEI

Sea: The coastal guns at Pontianak find the range on the invasion fleet off shore and land 2 hits on AP Kaihei Maru causing39 00 18 damage.

Air: Near Pontianak 6 Martin 139 and 6 Brewster 339D take on 19 Zero flying LRCAP. 4 Brewster and 2 Martin are claimed as destroyed for the loss of 1 Zero. Enough of the strike makes it through for 1 bomb to hit AP Hakuskia Maru which suffers 21 24 17 damage.

Sea: At Hong Kong a mine field is located. All goes well until TK Amatsu Maru hits not 1 but 2 mines. She sustains 85 71 38 damage. Amatsu Maru is going to be difficult to save but at least she is at a big harbour so things might work out.

The undefended allied base at Gili Gili is attacked and captured by Japanese forces.

Air: Near Gili Gili 2 Hudson make a run on the invasion fleet there. They are met by 2 Zero on LRCAP and the end result is one Hudson destroyed and no ships damaged.

Subs:

No action reported today.

Naval Losses for the Day

Nil

Comments

More mines - nasty damage at Hong Kong and a bad effort there cleaning up mines planted by the allies. Nice results in the air off of Pontianak, however, my flyboys managed to lose a Zero (silly pilot) and a shame about the courage of those pilots getting through to land a bomb on one of my transports. Softening up continues at Johore Bahru, Changsa and Clark Field…. Stayed tuned for some actual assaults at these locations very soon.

_____________________________

Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

An invasion fleet is approaching Menado for a proper assault on this bastion of Dutch power. 4 coastal guns open up and targetPC Showa Maru # 3 with reports received of 2 shell hits. Amazingly the after action inspection of the ship found zip in the way of damage. # 3 lives on to fight another day.

Land: Troops are ashore at Menado. The garrison launches a bombardment attack causing 8 casualties to the invading Japanese force.

At Pontianak the lead elements of the Japanese invasion force launches a bombardment attack on the garrison and causes 12 casualties.

China

Land: At Changsa the Japanese forces launch a deliberate attack. 146 847 troops supported by 1481 guns and 297 vehicles take on 52 304 defending troops supported by 268 guns. Assault odds only made 0 to 1 with a result of Japanese casualties of 3 121, 60 guns and 7 vehicles lost to the Chinese 630 casualties and 28 guns lost. Most importantly the engineers did their job and reduced the forts to level 2. Some more bombardment is in order before another attack is launched.

Land: A deliberate attack is ordered at Johore Bahru. 64 419 Japanese troops supported by 801 guns and 119 vehicles assault the defending troops made up of 18 550 troops supported by 159 guns. Assault odds of 1 to 1 are achieved and the forts reduced to level 5. Japanese loses are 795 casualties, 28 guns and 6 vehicles lost to 706 allied casualties and 5 guns lost.

Burma

Air: 17 Helen escorted by 18 Zero make an attack on the airfield at Mandalay. A CAP of 6 Tomahawk is present and is enough to deter the bombers and claim 1 Zero destroyed without loss.

Mini KB launches an attack of 20 Val and 32 Kate on the airfield at Tarakan causing 15 casualties, 5 airbase hits, 5 airbase supply hits and 25 runway hits. Some of the planes are damaged but no reports are received of any out right loses.

At Pontianak 6 Martin 139 and 6 Brewster 339 targets the surface fleet in attendance. They are met by 8 Zero on CAP duties. 2 Brewster and 1 Martin are claimed destroyed and the attack on the warships is broken up.

Land: At Pontianak Japanese forces launch a shock attack. Inroads are made by engineers who reduce the forts to level 1. Assault odds of 2 to 1 are then achieved and the forts further reduced to level 0. Japanese losses amount to 23 casualties and 1 gun lost for allied losses of 87 casualties and 1 gun lost. A renewed attack tomorrow should see this base fall to Japan.

Japanese shock attack at Menado gains odds of 4 to 1 and the base with a fort level of 2 is captured. A good result considering the fort level and 2 277 Japanese troops were facing off against 2 187 Dutch troops. Japanese losses reported as 152 casualties and 6 guns lost for 3 746 prisoners and 14 guns and 1 vehicle lost to for the Dutch.

Sea: Off shore from Shanghai a PC ASW task force sent to investigate a submarine report locatesSS Saury and launches a full attack. The submarine is reported to have been hit 4 times.

Philippines

Land: A deliberate attack is launched at Clark Field. 65 380 Japanese troops supported by 812 guns and 126 vehicles take on 29 411 defenders supported by 274 guns and 10 vehicles. Assault odds only achieve 0 to 1 and the forts remain at level 5. The Japanese lose 1317 casualties, 38 guns and 14 vehicles lost to the allied 1077 casualties, 30 guns and 1 vehicle lost.

Home Islands

Sea: At Matsuyama ML Katsuriki hits a mine and is damaged 41 21 12.

Subs

SS Trusty locates a MSW task force coming into Mersing. MSW Banshu Maru #52 is hit by 2 torpedoes and is lost to the war effort.

Naval Losses for the Day

MSW Banshu Maru #52

Comments

A good result at Johore Bahru. The superior Japanese numbers will tell and there are still 2 more divisions in the wings awaiting the assault on Singapore proper. The result at Clark Field was to be expected and is really only a holding action whilst forces to the south sort out a couple of Philippine Divisions at Naga. Menado was a great result albeit a battle on a small scale and Pontianak is not far from falling. I fear the aerial attack at Mandalay is a sign of some tough opposition to come in the Burma theatre.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

Land: At Johore Bahru a second Japanese deliberate attack in 2 days is ordered. This attack is not as successful as the previous day. Today the Japanese only achieve odds of 0 to 1 and fail to reduce the fortifications. Japanese loses are reported as 1042 casualties, 27 guns and 3 vehicles lost. Allied loses are 425 casualties and 6 guns lost.

Bombardment at Clark Field results in allied loses of 30 casualties and 1 gun lost.

Subs

No action reported today.

Naval Losses for the Day

Nil

Comments

Johore Bahru did not work as well as anticipated. The bombardments at Clark Field and Changsa though have continued to yield good results while assault troops are preparing for the next assault.

Recon has revealed what appears to be some serious shipping concentrated at Amboina. If reports are accurate there could be up to 7 cruisers lurking there. Question is are they supporting carriers or is this Houston and company???? If there are carriers there I have some serious allied warships in my midst, however, given Todd’s reluctance up to this point to expose his warships to the Japanese war machine I’d be surprised if carriers do turn up there. He has been happy to send Houston and company out to mix it up so I’m expecting that Houston and friends are the forces likely to be found here.

Mini KB has been tasked to attend to this group of warships. If the ships do make a move the Nell bombers at Davao will be reinforced with more Nell bombers. Two battleships escorted by destroyers are also moving in to help out.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

would the mystery ships be estimated as "force Z", houston/boise group or as the allied carriers (last is not very likely, since the CV's would be in a land hex)? all have been missing for a while i believe?

on China; I'm playing stock as well, in my game there are so many Chinese around Nanning/Hanoi that its really hard to force a breaktrough.. both pushing against Changsa, Wuchow AND Hanoi may be a bit overstretching your forces (surely the situations are different, but the troops are all there for the action ). So thats definetly a field of interest to me

At Johore Bahru a second Japanese deliberate attack in 2 days is ordered. This attack is not as successful as the previous day. Today the Japanese only achieve odds of 0 to 1 and fail to reduce the fortifications.

When you attack a well fortified base, unless you get 1:1 odds and the forts are close to gone, a well use method is to attack ever third day and use your artillery to bombard on the other two days. Your troops will need those two days to recover disruption and fatigue from the prior attacks. Use your LBA to attack his AF to prevent him rebuilding the forts. As another novice Japanese player, I am missing the vast number of Allied engineers (and engineer vehicles) to build things up quickly.

HQ question - Do you have an Army HQ with your troops at Johore Bahru?? You need excessive support to get the full AV (Assault Value). The Southern Army HQ (command range 9) should be prepping for Singapore and already on the Malayan peninsula (it starts prepped for a base on Luzon while it starts at Saigon which is always a little strange to me). I would double check your HQs to ensure they are aiding you in your conquest. They can be easily overlooked by players.

Todd has sent at least 1 carrier off on a so far successful strike against Wake Island. At this stage there are only warships in this area as my limited recon has not picked up any transport TF nor any has any landing been made at this stage. The situation was of my own making as I picked up Wake Island on the 1st day of the war and then failed to build it up. The recent sub interest in the area alerted me to this failure and I have been in the process of building up the base. Just as a transport TF arrives with a base force so does the US carrier/s. The force was 2 DD and 4 AP from memory and so far 1 DD has gone under and the rest are in poor condition.

The question now is can I do something with KB to redress this situation. As you can see from the screen shot the US carrier/s are very near to Wake Island. KB is just off the bottom of the page and had been heading toward Palmyra possibly for the same reason that Todd sent his strike force to Wake. At any rate it would appear that I should be able to get KB into a good intercept position and deal with this task force some distance away from Pearl. Problem is I will have to pass Johnston Island and no doubt will telegraph the presence of KB to Todd. I suppose going ultra quiet at this time could be beneficial. I’m also wary of Todd fading to the south and having a go at shipping around Kwajalein but I guess I’ve been given warning to do something about them.

In summary my thinking is that if I can keep KB between Pearl and this task force I should be able to manufacture an engagement.

Any thoughts on how I should react. Also should KB be set to a high speed run to get quickly into the best position? I won’t be sending this turn for about another 5 hours so any responses in that time will be greatly appreciated.

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Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'

It seems you have a good opportunity. You should try you best to avoid detection for the time being and not get too close to Johnson Island. If he decides to linger or move south it would be good to get between him and Pearl Harbour undetected, and maintain surprise. However if he starts dashing north or east, perhaps then you should move full speed and more likely sacrifise surprise in order to get between him and Pearl Harbour, thereby having the ability to hunt him or force an engagement.

Another idea would be to split your KB into two wings in order to pincer him in, but since you don't seem to know where the other US carriers are this may be too dangerous.

It seems you have a good opportunity. You should try you best to avoid detection for the time being and not get too close to Johnson Island. If he decides to linger or move south it would be good to get between him and Pearl Harbour undetected, and maintain surprise. However if he starts dashing north or east, perhaps then you should move full speed and more likely sacrifise surprise in order to get between him and Pearl Harbour, thereby having the ability to hunt him or force an engagement.

Another idea would be to split your KB into two wings in order to pincer him in, but since you don't seem to know where the other US carriers are this may be too dangerous.

Thanks JohReb. This is good and I have modified my plan of attack slightly. I was thinking of sending KB directly to the north but will now send KB on something of a NNW heading which should have it about 8 hexes out from Johnston Island when it passes. This will cut down the angle of attack if the carrier/s do move south and at the same time doesn't take KB too far away from a northerly direction to react if the carrier/s attempt to scoot back to Pearl. I've opted for a high speed run for the time being in order to get in to position as quick as I can. I've also kept the KB planes very close to home to avoid detection as best I can. Will have to wait a couple of days and see how this turns out.

I'll keep the KB together as I don't feel confident with the idea of splitting it up. I'd much rather have all 6 together whatever might come of this.

< Message edited by SierraJuliet -- 5/17/2009 1:07:30 PM >

_____________________________

Kido Butai, although powerful, was a raiding force, and this is exactly how the Japanese understood its usage. 'Shattered Sword'